Puerto Natales to Puerto Varas

I woke up in Puerto Natales feeling so refreshed. However I think that’s I’m allergic to the adhesive on hydrocolloid patches because my blistered toe is dreadfully sore, so I removed the patch. My toenail on the big toe of my left foot is completely black too, but my right foot is unscathed. We had an early start to get the 10.18 plane from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt, where we were met by a driver who drove us 25 minutes to Puerto Varas also known as the City of Roses. 
It’s a little town in the Los Lagos (Lake) District of Chile on the shores of Llanquihue Lake. It was founded by German immigrants in the 19th century and a lot of the German-inspired houses have wooden shingles on their roofs and facades made from the rain-resistant alerce (Patagonian larch) tree. Our hotel is on the lakeside and has views over the lake to the Osorno and Calbuco volcanoes.
We went for a pleasant stroll along the promenade and drank freshly made juice sitting outside a wee café in the sunshine. We could see the volcanoes across the bay, wreathed in clouds. The weather forecast for the next few days is dreadful, however it’s hard to believe that as I sit on our balcony this afternoon on such a hot and rather humid day. 

W Trail addendum - The Story of the Lost Dad

Two lovely people that I met today, Floyd and Zack, told me that they walked up to the Torres viewpoint two days ago. Floyd is Zack’s Dad and was walking slower, so they agreed that Zack would head down the hill to get ingredients for dinner at Central Rifugio before the shop closed. He thought that his Dad would arrive about an hour after him. Meanwhile Floyd stopped briefly at Chileno and continued past Windy Pass. However at some point he took a wrong turning and got lost in the woods. Zack was waiting for him at Central, growing increasingly worried, and eventually reported Floyd missing. The rangers forbade Zack from heading back up the hill because it was getting dark and they didn’t want another person to go missing. They checked the cctv at Chileno and Floyd could be seen setting off from there only an hour after Zack, as expected. Meanwhile Floyd was lost and it was completely dark. Zack had carried a lot of Floyd’s kit down for him so Floyd had no food, head torch, emergency blanket or first aid kit. He had only a little water. His phone and watch batteries died. He kept walking along the trail looking for signs, and when he realised that he wouldn’t find his way back, he sheltered under a tree. It began raining, lightly at first so the leaves protected him, but then harder and harder which was very unpleasant despite wearing waterproof clothing. He nearly fell asleep at one point but was wary of getting hypothermia so he forced himself to stay awake and paced up and down for hours until eventually he saw the sky getting lighter. Once he could see a bit he started following a trail along the side of the mountain and in time he met some people heading the other way so he found out that he was going in the direction of Francès. One couple noticed that he was looking exhausted and gave him water and food. A bit further on he met a ranger who had his photo on his phone as a missing person, and walked him back to Central. A very relieved Zack was waiting for him, and they were allowed to stay an extra night; Floyd slept for the whole day. Strangely enough, Floyd wasn’t the only person missing in the mountains that night; the rangers told Zack that two other couples were also missing. So this must be a regular occurrence. I presume that they turned up eventually. The rangers told Zack that when people go missing it’s usually because of one of three reasons: 

1. They are fed up with hiking and have set off back to Puerto Natales without telling their group. 
2. They have found their way to the wrong rifugio and are getting drunk there.
3. They really are lost.

Thank goodness that Floyd was ok after his ordeal, and in fact was back hiking a day later. 

W Trek Day 4 - Paine Grande to Grey Glacier Return

Oh boy what a night! It was raining heavily when we got to our tent and it continued for most of the night. It was so loud that it was really hard to sleep. There were some strong gusts of wind too, and the tiny tent was draughty and cold. The mattresses felt hard and my back was uncomfortable, and strangely my knees were sore too. It really was an ordeal and I was so relieved when morning came. We could see that the rain has fallen as snow on top of the mountains. We packed up and had a decent breakfast at the rifugio, then James set off up to the Grey Glacier via the Rifugio Grey. The weather was cloudy but dry. I decided to stay near the rifugio and I went for a walk to the lake shore; the sun came out and the lake looked a striking turquoise. I met some interesting people at the hut and the time flew by. James arrived back late afternoon and we got the 7 p.m. ferry from Paine Grande to Pudeto (about 25 minutes across Lake Pehoe with fantastic views of the mountains) then the bus back to Puerto Natales (about an hour and a half) then a taxi from the bus station to our wee hotel. We arrived at about half past nine, tired and not at all hungry. The hotel felt like a palace after last night’s tent, and we packed and repacked our cases before having lovely showers. Oh the joys of an en suite shower after the squalor of camp site showers! Soon we were in our comfy bed, it felt wonderful. 

The challenging (for me) hiking, the dreadful communal showers and toilets, and the tiny tents all pale into insignificance beside the beauty and wonder of Torres del Paine National Park. I feel so privileged to have visited this wild and unique area with its jagged mountains cloaked in glaciers and its turquoise lakes. Walking through it is the only way to experience it properly. I feel very grateful that James brought me here. 

James walked 21.6 km and ascended 670 metres. 

W Trek Day 3 - Cuernos to Paine Grande via Mirador Britannico

Today we walked from Cuernos to Paine Grande. James’ jacket fell out of the top of his rucksack at some point after we left Cuernos this morning and he didn’t realise until we had been walking towards Francès for an hour. A man from Brazil, Hermanos, told him that he had found it and handed it to some girls who were heading back to Cuernos. James decided to go back for it because it’s a newish and costly jacket. I continued onwards at my usual slow pace but I was mainly in the shade, which made for much more pleasant walking than yesterday. The paths seemed slightly easier too, either that or I’m getting used to climbing over boulders! I could hear sounds like thunder; it was ice falling off the glacier high above me. 
James caught up with me at the Italiano hut, which is very basic and used mainly for people to store their backpacks while they go up to Mirador Britannico. Unfortunately his jacket had not been handed in at the Rifugio Cuernos so it was a wasted extra two hours of walking for him. He decided to go up to Mirador Britannico all the same, while I plodded slowly on to Paine Grande. I immediately ran into Jürgen and Margit, who had just descended from Mirador Francès, which is about half way up. Jürgen told me that he had trouble with his knee yesterday, it locked while he was on the trail and was very painful. They made it to Rifugio Francès (having been turned away from Cuernos at 3 p.m.) and he went straight to bed. I’m amazed and impressed that he was back out walking today! I don’t understand why they were turned away from Cuernos at 3 when we were given a tent at 5.30; perhaps I seemed more distressed, or perhaps they keep a couple of tents back for people who arrive later and won’t have time to get to the next hut. 
I was talking to a very nice American gentleman on the trail and saying that I wished that I had got fitter before the holiday, and he said that at the beginning of the baseball season in America, if you haven’t got fit enough in advance, you say, “I’m playing myself into shape.” So that’s perhaps what I’m doing! We have met so many lovely people while walking the W trail. 
The distance of my walk today was allegedly 11 km, but it felt much longer due to the rubble paths, including huge rocks, and lots of ascending and descending. My watch recorded 16 km. The views were amazing, starting with Lago Nordenskjöld and then Lago Skottsberg. I slowly passed Cerro Paine Grande which looked magnificent from every angle, capped with snow.  Finally I could see Lake Pehoé  with Rifugio Paine Grande in the distance. I think that I arrived at about 4 p.m. after starting the walk at 8 a.m. which was very slow but the terrain is rough. I went in to the rifugio and had a cool drink in their lounge. James arrived back at about quarter to seven. Dinner was self service and very slow, but the food was ok, and we finished the day with drinks in the rifugio’s lounge. 
James walked 47600 steps today - the most he has ever done in one day. Not his longest distance though, because it involved a lot of ascent. His longest distance was probably 50 miles in 22 hours when he did the Caledonian Challenge. 
Today I did 12.2 km and 269 metres of ascent. 
James did 29 km and at least 930 metres of ascent. (This included his extra two hours of returning to Cuernos to look for his jacket.) 

W Trek Day 2 - Central to Cuernos

It was warm today. Too warm for me so I was very nervous about our walk from Rifugio Central towards Rifugio Frances. I was right to be worried as it turned out. 
When we were walking from the campsite to the rifugio for breakfast we saw the Torres del Paine all lit up pink by the rising sun; they looked stunning.  At breakfast we were chatting to a lively American girl called Emily aged 31 from New York, who has recently been laid off with five months pay, so she decided to travel. She was so enthusiastic and positive.
We packed our rucksacks and set off, on the same path as yesterday, but instead of turning up towards Chileno we walked up a hill to a viewpoint overlooking Lago Nordenskjöld. It’s very beautiful. The lake is pale turquoise because of the “rock flour” from the glacier suspended in it. On we walked, but instead of the lakeside path that I had anticipated, our path was very rough and high above the lake most of the time. 
It was a beautiful day but very very hot in the sunshine. The shaded woods that we walked through were pleasantly cool but we were mainly walking up or across rocky hillsides in the full sun. The paths were covered with pebbles at best and boulders at worst, and lined with shrubs including lots of chaura (aka murtillo) which is part of the Heather family, with bright red berries. There were also Notro / Chilean firebush, with a distinctive red flower. 
We had to climb over every headland and then descend to a river, sometimes crossing a rickety bridge, before climbing up the next headland. The saving grace was that the views of the lakes and mountains were stunningly beautiful. However I became increasingly hot and tired and after about six hours James had to carry my rucksack for me. I kept stopping to cool down and honestly I could have just lain down on the path and gone to sleep. James had to cajole me along which I know was very trying for him. We were supposed to walk to Rifugio Francès but we stopped 3.5 km short of it at Rifugio Cuernos. I was desperate and couldn’t have walked a step further. The receptionist was really helpful and swapped our booking. This was partly because I was exhausted but the main reason was that I was overheated. 
We had a lovely dinner at Rifugio Cuernos chatting to Fred and Karen from Vermont. 
Today James and I both walked 12.4 km and 319 metres of ascent but it was rough going and felt much more! I was very glad to get into our tent for an early night. 

The W Trek Day 1 - Central to Mirador Las Torres return

This was the start of the W Trek for us and I set off before dawn, about 7.15 a.m. because I knew that I would be slow. James went to breakfast, collected our box lunches and caught up with me after I had been walking for about an hour. The path was quite stony but well-signposted, and ascended gradually to Windy Pass which has fantastic views steeply down the valley with the river below, before descending to the Rifugio Chilena. It was a cool but very humid day and the mountains were swathed in clouds. A train of sure-footed pack horses passed me, being led by a gaucho on horseback; they were carrying supplies for the rifugio. James walked on to Mirador Base, Las Torres; the viewpoint at the base of the towers. I stopped at Rifugio Chileno after about 4 hours of walking (about double the time that it should have taken), which is a small rifugio set prettily among trees right down beside the river. It was extremely busy inside at first, probably because it had started to rain quite heavily. My new waterproof jacket (thank you James!) kept me nice and dry. I got a seat without any trouble and had a cup of coffee, and soon the rain went off and it brightened up. I had arranged to meet James there and I couldn’t leave without him because neither of our phones has reception. I chatted to a lovely Belgian lady called Clara who was waiting for her group to return, and James appeared about an hour and a half later and we walked back to the Rifugio Central together. By now it was very sunny and I was suffering in the heat, but I made it back and lay down in the shade of the tent before going for a refreshing shower. Dinner was slightly better than last night although the polenta left a lot to be desired; I don’t know what they had done to make it such a strange watery texture. We were both tired and after a wee walk to the welcome centre we had an early night. 
Today I did 11 km and 490 metres of ascent. 
James did 20.6 km and 980 metres of ascent.

Torres del Paine

We were picked up from our hotel at the civilised hour of 9 a.m. by a man driving a wee jeep, to travel the two hours into Torres del Paine National Park. Our alternatives would have been a 7.30 a.m. bus (too early since our proper walk doesn’t start until tomorrow) or a 2.30 p.m. bus (arriving a bit too late to enjoy exploring the area around the camp) We drove through wide grassland valleys, where sheep, cows and guanaco were grazing. Guacano are the type of llama which live in this area of Chile and they are absolutely beautiful. So vocal was my enthusiasm that the driver stopped so that we could take some photos of them. We also saw an ostrich and even flamingos wading in shallow Lake Amarga. The road to Torres del Paine is part of the Ruta del Fin del Mundo - the End of the World Route, which goes down through Chile from Puerto Montt for 1240 km to Tierra del Fuego at Ushuaia, Argentina or Puerto Williams, Chile.
When we arrived at the entrance to the National Park, there were the Torres del Paine towering above us in all of their glory, sharp and silvery grey in the sunlight; to one side of them sloped a big snowfield, still there despite this being the end of the Patagonian summer. We continued about 20 minutes to the large Rifugio Central which nestles beneath the Torres del Paine, and set off for a walk to find the beginning of tomorrow’s trail. This was not difficult because it’s well signposted. It was warm and sunny so the valley and the mountains looked glorious but those who know me will realise that a hot day does not serve me well for walking. I was soon sweltering. Luckily there was plenty of shade back at the campsite where rufous-collared sparrows (aka Andean sparrows) with their wee tufted heads were hopping about, and tired back-packers were returning from the mountains. We checked in at the campsite and were directed to our bizarre tent-on-stilts, climbing up a ladder to get into it. We were gratified at how clean and comfortable it is inside; the mattress covers the whole floor and there are various windows (covered with mosquito netting) which can be opened or closed by rolling the fabric up or down. On the other hand, you have to climb down the ladder if you need to go to the toilet in the middle of the night! Dinner was served at trestle tables in the main rifugio and was distinctly unexciting. The so-called aubergine soup was like grey water. It was also served at considerable speed because there were two sittings, at 7 and at 8.15, so the three courses had to be consumed in an hour. We chatted to a couple of pleasant German - Americans called Jürgen and Margit, who emigrated to the USA in their twenties for work and live in Phoenix, Arizona. We had an early night tucked up in our little tent. 

In Patagonia

We were picked up early from our hotel to catch the 08.53 plane from Santiago to Puerto Natales in the south of Chile; a three and a half hour flight down this long, narrow country. We were seated separately because we hadn’t booked seats until yesterday, but it turned out that the two seats beside James were both free. James asked the flight attendant to fetch me which she duly did. It meant that I got lovely extra leg room and an empty seat between us. I did have to forfeit my window seat which might have had a view of the Andes but the nice American couple beside me were delighted to gain the window seat and spare seat in the row, so it was win-win. 

We were taken by car to our hotel in Puerto Natales, a little town with a frontier feel; mostly Nordic style wooden houses, a small town square, and a big harbour. It’s set on a fjord called Ultima Esperanza with mountains all around it, and I was delighted that the temperature was pleasantly cool compared to Santiago. The Milodon is the local prehistoric beast, remains of which were found nearby and a large statue of which greets visitors to the town. We went for a walk to the fjord and along to the fishing harbour. We were delighted to see a variety of birds as we strolled along; a small bird of prey called the Chimango Caracara, black-necked swans, branta goose, southern lapwing) There were lots of restaurants and cafés, and after a good walk around the town we ate in an excellent fish restaurant called Bote (boat) where James enjoyed the local speciality of King Crab and for dessert I tried a mousse made with Calafate berries, Patagonia's version of a blueberry. It’s small and tart and contains more seeds than a blueberry; I loved it. Another walk to the fjord ensued to watch the sun set. 

Tuna for breakfast in Chile!

 We tried a strange greenish fruit at the breakfast buffet this morning which was full of quite large hard seeds. I asked the waitress what it was and she told me “it’s tuna.” Knowing that it definitely wasn’t fish, we investigated (thank you Google!) we found out that it is in fact prickly pear! A first for both of us. We met Marcello at 9.30 and set off by car and then cable car to visit the impressive Statue of the Virgin Mary on the top of Cerro San Cristóbal. It has great views over the city and Marcello pointed out all the landmarks. There was also a grey band lying just above the city which is unfortunately pollution from all of the cars in this city of 8 million people. There is a little church and square near the top of the hill dedicated to the Basque immigrants to Santiago. They are not the only immigrants; in addition to the descendants of the Spanish and the indigenous people, there have been many waves of immigrants such as Germans, English, Venezuelans, Peruvians and many more so it is a very diverse city. Marcello himself has French, Spanish and Jewish ancestry. We descended from the hill by a little funicular railway and then walked through the pretty Bellavista area where we saw Pablo Neruda’s houses, and continued through the old town and the market. We ended up in the main square in the oldest part of the city; Plaza de Armas. It was attractive with lots of trees and a couple of statues as well as Santiago Cathedral. Finally we visited Constitution Square to see the presidential palace which was destroyed in the coup of 1973 when President Allende was killed, and then rebuilt. Marcello’s guidance and commentary were very interesting. It was however very hot so we were glad to arrive back at the air conditioning of the hotel in the early afternoon. We relaxed at the pool again before going out for dinner to the Galindo Restaurant near the market in Bellavista, which Marcello had recommended to us earlier as a good Chilean restaurant. The meal was delicious, very reasonably priced, and massive! We then wandered back into the market, pleasantly cooler in the evening but still warm, and had drinks sitting outside in the small square watching a young couple singing with guitar and flute called “Duo Caminhos” which means “two paths.” It was a lovely evening. 

London to Santiago

I was absolutely delighted to get about eight hours of sleep on the plane from London to Santiago. This is thanks to the joys of Economy Plus, where our seats are slightly wider than in Economy, with more leg room and I think that they recline slightly more as well. I stayed awake until after dinner and then fell asleep very quickly. Despite the long flight (13 hours) there is only 3 hours time difference between the UK and Chile which should bode well for avoiding jet lag. We were collected by car from the airport by our guide Marcello, who chatted to us about the city before dropping us at our (very smart) Hotel Solace in Providencia. We will have a proper city tour tomorrow. Santiago is hot! It’s early autumn here so it’s about 32 degrees - I think it can get a lot hotter in the summer. 

Nothing daunted, we went for a walk along the river. The Mapocho River is currently but a burn in the middle of two city parks, beside the main road through Providencia. We went into the shopping mall below the Sky Costanera which was full of European brands, and had a coffee there before heading to the more arty Galeria Drugstore for a quick look around. Back at the hotel I was keen to go to the rooftop pool which was delightfully cool and we had cocktails while looking over the city to the foothills of the Andes. 

All packed for my holiday

On Sunday the Iranian state media confirmed that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had been killed along with many other state officials. However Iran is still attacking other countries with missiles so the regime is still not completely gone. I don’t know how all this is going to end. Alison and Hugh arrived late on Sunday from Gran Canaria on their way home from their holiday and departed on Monday morning after we all had a leisurely breakfast and a good chat. After a sunny session of pickleball outdoors at the tennis courts I finished packing for our holiday. In the evening I completed all of my preparation for CHS Training Day 5, which for me will be at the beginning of April. I was glad to get it done before my holiday but I will need to do a wee bit of revision before the next session to refresh my knowledge!
Which brings me to today. Despite having already packed I spent the morning footering about with chargers and adapters, and checking that I had packed everything. It was a classic case of a task expanding to fit the time available! The cats were suspicious when we took our suitcases downstairs, in case we were about to load them into the car to travel to Ullapool, but we were able to say a proper goodbye to them before they scarpered out of the cat flap. Now I’m on the plane about to take off to Heathrow, before our long flight from Heathrow to Santiago in Chile.